June 24, 2025 • 8 mins
Dr. Vanessa Tyler chats with legendary entertainer Dionne Warwick about her career and her legacy. Dionne is appearing at The Apollo Theater in Harlem on June 27, 2025 for a one night only event that features storytelling, anecdotes, and a live performance. Titled "Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over", this will be her first time at the Apollo in 60 years.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
As we close out this Black Music Month, we turned
to an icon in Blackland and now as a brown person,
you just feel so invisible where we're from. Brothers and sisters.
I welcome you to this joyful.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Day and we celebrate freedom.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Where we are, I know someone heard something.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And where we're going, We the people means all the people.
The Black Information Network presents Blackland with your host Vanessa Tyler. Hello,
Miss Warwick, Hi, Hell are you. The last time we
chatted was that your street were naming in East Orange.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
So it was an incredible.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Day, incredible for the woman from East Orange. There is
also a school there named after her too, the musical
talent from this New Jersey town and in her bloodline,
including her late aunt Sissy Houston and late cousin Whitney Houston.
Of all the awards, multiple Grammys, including for Lifetime Achievement
(01:08):
and NAACP Entertainer of the Year, Kennedy Center Honors, and
being honored in her hometown ranks right up.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
There, amazing, especially where they chose to put me right
there at City Hall.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Your long and illustrious career even includes the time where
black entertainers had to hide their color, meaning your music
had such broad appeal that a white girl's picture had
to go on your album cover.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Talk about those days. You know.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
It was a white girl that was put on one
cover and that was on in Paris, France. They distributors
for Scepter Records Vogue Records had never seen me, only
heard me, and they just thought I was a white
girl for some reason, and because they had no photos
(01:59):
of me they acquired a model who looks nothing like
me and put her on the cover of the This
Empty Place. And as it turned out, when I finally
showed up, everybody was kind of in shock, Oh is
that really you? And yes, me, you know, And it
(02:22):
happened even when I walked out on the stage at the Olympia Theater,
it was an audible gasp from everybody in the audience
because they had only seen that photograph and I had
to let them know that no, I'm not a white girl and
I'm not blonde blue and white. I am brown eyed and
teasingly tan. And from that day to this they embraced
(02:45):
me like no one else has ever embraced me Before.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Your career the longevity of your career, and part of it,
I believe is because you stay so current you're part
of what's happening now, including the Masks singer talk about
that experience.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
That was a bunch of fun and it was so
funny because they had me dressed as something I was
completely terrified of, a mouse, and I became Mommy Mouse.
And the least I really allowed that to happen was
she was so cute that the head on that mouse
(03:23):
was adorable. And it was a bunch of fun to
do the show. You know, it's a very interesting show.
And those that were on the panel, of course I
kind of knew them all, and then I opened my mouth,
they all looked like, oh, I know who that is.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
We know that voice exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Wow, Warwick, you got it.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
You got it. Ctic R and b Hall of Famer
five time Grammy award winner. We love you.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Thank you so much for playing with us. I'm just
freaking out. I love you so much.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I've just studied your voice.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
I knew the first time you opened your mouth there's
no other voice like that out there.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, Baby, your voice jumps out, jumps out at you.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
It's an honor to have you on the show.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Thank you so much for your pleasure.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Baby, Thank you and everyone who knows anything knows there
are two people you don't mess with on social media
50 Cent is one of them, and Dionne warwick is
the other. Talk about your social media posts.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You know I and it got involved because of me seeing what our children. Literally it's as far as I'm concerned were writing and saying to each other. And it was not a very pleasant thing to look at. And I said, well, you know, somebody got to say something to me, baby. And started to make my presence known and I let them know there’s a grown up now in your presence. And we're going to have to start thinking about how we word our issues here now once you continue saying what you got to say. But there is a way to say it. And that's what I expect to hear from him and see from my baby's. OK, and I said you're gonna ask me questions and I'm gonna answer them and I'm gonna ask you the questions and I expect answers from you as an above all when we end our conversations with whomever you’re here conversing with always ended with a smile and they fell right into that category with me. And uh, they made they, they named me the Queen of Twitter. So this is what I am the queen of Twitter. And some of your comebacks have been funny. Yeah, I talk a lot about it. And especially celebrities who have basically never poked fun at, you know, I I just thought, you know, let's let's get a giggle out and see how they would respond. And the first one I did was Chance the Rapper. Why are you going to put rapper after your name- we all know that is what you do.- and he responded to me which was a surprise. Which was a surprise to everyody and we all became really good friends. He gave me hs phone number, i gave him mine and we started conversing with each other. I finally asked him if he would mind recording a song with me. And he jumped at the opportunity and we did.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Life is full circle and bringing you back to the Apollo,
it's been sixty years since you've been on that legendary
Harlem stage one night only June twenty seventh. Talk about
how that came about and what we can expect to hear.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
My son Damon decided because he just finished the 17 city tour in Europe with the show and the show was basically was so overwhelmingly received, he said why don't we take it home, mom. Why don’t’ we take it to the states? So I said, well, I don't know how to do this in three weeks. You know, you only have three weeks to do it. And he said, well, we're going to try. And he went to the Apollo. They jumped at the chance since I started at the Apollo. So it is full circle. And then the last show in the Apollo. At night they're closing it all the doors after that to renovate the room. What people now will get the full story on
(07:38):
you know, it's no more old I thought, or didn't
you or I heard yeah, but you didn't hear from me,
But now you will be hearing from directly from me.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
The title of the show is Don't Make Me Over,
which of course is after your classic.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Don't Make Me Over. It was my very first recording.
It's my first time on the international and national charts,
and I think it's a song that I sang for
the first time at the Apollo. I feel that it
kind of denotes who I am and what I am
(08:15):
really about, accept me for what I am and what
I do.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
In decades in music at eighty four, she's still recording
even a song with rapper she first connected with by
teasingly trolling on social media Chance the rapper, the incompable
Dionne Warwick, thank you for making the music of our.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Lives, and thank you so very much.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
I'm Vanessa Tyler. Join me next week for a brand
new episode. Please like and subscribe Blackland so you don't
miss a drum
As we close out this Black Music Month, we turned
to an icon in Blackland and now as a brown person,
you just feel so invisible where we're from. Brothers and sisters.
I welcome you to this joyful.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Day and we celebrate freedom.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Where we are, I know someone heard something.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And where we're going, We the people means all the people.
The Black Information Network presents Blackland with your host Vanessa Tyler. Hello,
Miss Warwick, Hi, Hell are you. The last time we
chatted was that your street were naming in East Orange.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
So it was an incredible.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Day, incredible for the woman from East Orange. There is
also a school there named after her too, the musical
talent from this New Jersey town and in her bloodline,
including her late aunt Sissy Houston and late cousin Whitney Houston.
Of all the awards, multiple Grammys, including for Lifetime Achievement
(01:08):
and NAACP Entertainer of the Year, Kennedy Center Honors, and
being honored in her hometown ranks right up.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
There, amazing, especially where they chose to put me right
there at City Hall.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Your long and illustrious career even includes the time where
black entertainers had to hide their color, meaning your music
had such broad appeal that a white girl's picture had
to go on your album cover.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Talk about those days. You know.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
It was a white girl that was put on one
cover and that was on in Paris, France. They distributors
for Scepter Records Vogue Records had never seen me, only
heard me, and they just thought I was a white
girl for some reason, and because they had no photos
(01:59):
of me they acquired a model who looks nothing like
me and put her on the cover of the This
Empty Place. And as it turned out, when I finally
showed up, everybody was kind of in shock, Oh is
that really you? And yes, me, you know, And it
(02:22):
happened even when I walked out on the stage at the Olympia Theater,
it was an audible gasp from everybody in the audience
because they had only seen that photograph and I had
to let them know that no, I'm not a white girl and
I'm not blonde blue and white. I am brown eyed and
teasingly tan. And from that day to this they embraced
(02:45):
me like no one else has ever embraced me Before.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Your career the longevity of your career, and part of it,
I believe is because you stay so current you're part
of what's happening now, including the Masks singer talk about
that experience.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
That was a bunch of fun and it was so
funny because they had me dressed as something I was
completely terrified of, a mouse, and I became Mommy Mouse.
And the least I really allowed that to happen was
she was so cute that the head on that mouse
(03:23):
was adorable. And it was a bunch of fun to
do the show. You know, it's a very interesting show.
And those that were on the panel, of course I
kind of knew them all, and then I opened my mouth,
they all looked like, oh, I know who that is.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
We know that voice exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Wow, Warwick, you got it.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
You got it. Ctic R and b Hall of Famer
five time Grammy award winner. We love you.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Thank you so much for playing with us. I'm just
freaking out. I love you so much.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I've just studied your voice.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
I knew the first time you opened your mouth there's
no other voice like that out there.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, Baby, your voice jumps out, jumps out at you.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
It's an honor to have you on the show.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Thank you so much for your pleasure.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Baby, Thank you and everyone who knows anything knows there
are two people you don't mess with on social media
50 Cent is one of them, and Dionne warwick is
the other. Talk about your social media posts.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You know I and it got involved because of me seeing what our children. Literally it's as far as I'm concerned were writing and saying to each other. And it was not a very pleasant thing to look at. And I said, well, you know, somebody got to say something to me, baby. And started to make my presence known and I let them know there’s a grown up now in your presence. And we're going to have to start thinking about how we word our issues here now once you continue saying what you got to say. But there is a way to say it. And that's what I expect to hear from him and see from my baby's. OK, and I said you're gonna ask me questions and I'm gonna answer them and I'm gonna ask you the questions and I expect answers from you as an above all when we end our conversations with whomever you’re here conversing with always ended with a smile and they fell right into that category with me. And uh, they made they, they named me the Queen of Twitter. So this is what I am the queen of Twitter. And some of your comebacks have been funny. Yeah, I talk a lot about it. And especially celebrities who have basically never poked fun at, you know, I I just thought, you know, let's let's get a giggle out and see how they would respond. And the first one I did was Chance the Rapper. Why are you going to put rapper after your name- we all know that is what you do.- and he responded to me which was a surprise. Which was a surprise to everyody and we all became really good friends. He gave me hs phone number, i gave him mine and we started conversing with each other. I finally asked him if he would mind recording a song with me. And he jumped at the opportunity and we did.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Life is full circle and bringing you back to the Apollo,
it's been sixty years since you've been on that legendary
Harlem stage one night only June twenty seventh. Talk about
how that came about and what we can expect to hear.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
My son Damon decided because he just finished the 17 city tour in Europe with the show and the show was basically was so overwhelmingly received, he said why don't we take it home, mom. Why don’t’ we take it to the states? So I said, well, I don't know how to do this in three weeks. You know, you only have three weeks to do it. And he said, well, we're going to try. And he went to the Apollo. They jumped at the chance since I started at the Apollo. So it is full circle. And then the last show in the Apollo. At night they're closing it all the doors after that to renovate the room. What people now will get the full story on
(07:38):
you know, it's no more old I thought, or didn't
you or I heard yeah, but you didn't hear from me,
But now you will be hearing from directly from me.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
The title of the show is Don't Make Me Over,
which of course is after your classic.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Don't Make Me Over. It was my very first recording.
It's my first time on the international and national charts,
and I think it's a song that I sang for
the first time at the Apollo. I feel that it
kind of denotes who I am and what I am
(08:15):
really about, accept me for what I am and what
I do.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
In decades in music at eighty four, she's still recording
even a song with rapper she first connected with by
teasingly trolling on social media Chance the rapper, the incompable
Dionne Warwick, thank you for making the music of our.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Lives, and thank you so very much.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
I'm Vanessa Tyler. Join me next week for a brand
new episode. Please like and subscribe Blackland so you don't
miss a drum
Host
Vanessa Tyler
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